1. PowerPoint presentations Best practice tips
Practice management: PowerPoint guidelines
The secret to effectively using PowerPoint while delivering a presentation is knowing your message and how best to communicate it to your audience.
Treat the heading of each slide as valuable real estate. Make your headings specific and meaningful.
Slides always look better on your laptop than they do on the screen. Forget about subtle color variations. They won’t be visible on the big screen.
PowerPoint presentations Best practice tips
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Start your presentation with an overview of what will be covered.
Set the scene for your topic of discussion and the journey they will have with you.
Be up front about how long the presentation will go for and what you hope they will get out of the presentation.
Indicate whether you are happy for questions to be raised during the presentation or at the end.
Always include slides for the presentation’s introduction and conclusion. Introductory slides communicate a sense of structure and make it easier to listen.
Separate a new thought to your slide with a Title slide.
Less is more. Use single words or phrases rather than sentences or paragraphs. 
Your bullet points are there to remind you what to talk about, not to tell the whole story.

2. Presentation design Allow 2-3 minutes per slide
Allow question and discussion time
Limit the amount of information
Structure is important
Generally allow two to three minutes per slide. For example, for a 20-minute presentation aim to limit the number of slides you use to
The number of slides you use in a presentation will vary, depending on a number of factors - the time you have to present, your audience, the topic and the mix of text and visual material.
Allow question/discussion time.
Limit the number of messages in your presentation. Few people can take away more than one concept. As tempting as it may be, don't feel obliged to tell the audience everything you know about the topic. Be selective. Exclude irrelevant information. If appropriate, put supporting material in a handout.
Structure your presentation so it has a logical flow that your audience can follow.
Use PowerPoint as a visual prompt and aid to your presentation.
The message is the most important thing - the design should not overwhelm the message.
Keep the slide design simple and uncluttered.
Use text and visual aides. If your PowerPoint show is mostly text, you might not be effectively communicating with your audience. Scientific research has shown that some people are more verbal/text-oriented (left brain thinkers) and some people are more visually-oriented (right-brain thinkers). Chances are, your audience will be composed of a mix of both types. To effectively reach everybody in your audience, you need to make sure your slides have both text and visuals. Visuals can include photographs, diagrams, charts, and illustrations.
Use of colour:
Ensure there is enough contrast between the background colour and text.
Aim to use a plain white/light background and dark text (rather than a dark background and light text).
Avoid subtle colours - they seldom work on the large screen.
Avoid patterns - they can reduce readability.
Use the Slide Master (in the toolbar go to View: Master: Slide Master) to apply a consistent style across all your slides. You can create multiple slides in the Master to add appeal to the presentation (e.g. change key colours to depict a change in subject). The Slide Master also allows you to make global changes (font, bullet markers) to all the slides in your presentation.

3. Tips for developing your presentation
Use of text
Keep the information on the slide brief. Use the PowerPoint notes facility as your script or prompt
Use dot points, not sentences.
7x7 rule (about 7 words per line and 7 lines per slide). This keeps your word slides visually clean and appealing. More importantly, it keeps the audience's attention focused on YOU, not on the slide. If there is text on the screen, people will read it rather than listen to you. The words on your slides should be talking points only. If you find yourself writing lengthy word slides, move the text down to speaker notes and restrict the slides to essential points.
To reduce the amount of text , use numbers and symbols, not words (e.g. % not percentage, & not and, 1 not one).
If you have too much information for one slide, add another slide.

4. Presentation design Allow 2-3 minutes per slide
Use of visual aides
Sensible use of relevant visual aides can enhance a presentation.
Avoid visual clutter.
When using graphs, eliminate excess data.
Presentation design
Allow 2-3 minutes per slide
Allow question & discussion time
Limit the amount of information
Structure is important
Use of special effects
Avoid imbedding audio and video clips just because it's easy to do. Without a good sound system, people can't hear it properly.
Just because they exist, it doesn’t mean they should be used.
You should only use visual effects to enhance your message or to emphasize points.
Do not overuse these effects. Used badly they can: overwhelm and detract from the message; distract, confuse and annoy the audience (there is nothing worse than excessive zooming, flashing, spinning, dissolving etc.); or slow down the presentation. .
Pause as you move from one slide to the next. You might feel awkward, but you will sound great.
Look at the slide when you want your listeners to look at it. Look at your listeners when you want to draw their attention away from the slide.
Pointers (especially laser pointers) should be avoided. They’re hard to use and do not make you look more professional. Unless you’re in a very large room with a very large audience, you should point things out with your hands.
As you deliver your presentation, especially when you’re well into it, assume that your listeners are thinking, “What does this have to do with me?” or “Why should I care?” This will remind you to keep your explanations short and relevant.
When delivering the presentation, don't turn your back to the audience to read the slides. And don't wave the laser pointer at the slide to show them what you are reading!

5. Presentation design Message before design Keep simple & uncluttered
Prepare
Know your audience (their level of expertise/subject knowledge and their “need to know”).
Know where you are presenting - how big the space is, how the space will be organised.
Know your equipment.
Have a back-up - if the technology fails, be prepared to present without your slides.
Rehearse your presentation so you know:
what it will look and sound like
how it flows
how long it will take
how any special effects will work - if you choose to use them.
Presentation design
Message before design
Keep simple & uncluttered
Use text & visual aides
Choose colours carefully
Use the Slide Master for consistency
Grab their attention
Remember to pause
Don't speed-talk through your presentation. If you have too much material for the time you have allotted to speak, it is a better plan to reduce your content by shifting some of it to a handout. Most importantly, pause after you deliver a new concept or a word that is not part of common vocabulary. This gives your audience time to absorb it and they will be prepared for what you are going to say next. Pause for 5-7 seconds after you ask a question.
A challenging question during the presentation helps to energise an audience, bring focus to your subject and inspire audience participation by sharing and debating the answer.
To get your audience involved, ask good questions.
It's a good idea to plan to ask your audience a challenging question sometime during your presentation. Stop the show and ask for a response. When someone calls out an answer, be sure you repeat it for everyone's benefit. Try to get more than one response. This really wakes up an audience and gets them more focused on your presentation.

6. Use of fonts Maximum font size: 36 point Use one simple font style
Always provide a handout after your presentation, so people focus on your presentation and not the handout
Handouts are beneficial because:
they put your presentation “on the record”
your audience doesn’t have to worry about taking notes, especially if you include your more comprehensive “notes” in the presentation
they give you the opportunity to provide more detailed information, keeping your PowerPoint presentation uncluttered and direct.
Use of fonts
Maximum font size: 36 point
Minimum font size: 28 point
Use one simple font style
e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana
Avoid overusing font effects
e.g. shadow, underline, embossing